Mortal
by Ideria Hialla
Summary: The Day of Judgement has come for Bill Cipher. If he wants to shirk the blame, he'll have to invoke HIS name. One way to absolve his crime: A different form. A different time. *WARNING: Spoilers from Gravity Falls season 2*
1. Prologue

« Why isn't this working ?! » Bill shouted, panicking. He was trapped, the flames were getting more and more closer. The shadow of the man who was sacrificing his mind to end him suddenly fell upon him.

\- Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one-eyed demon!

He turned around, only to face the cold stare the man was giving him, as he kept talking :

\- You're a real wise-guy, but you made one fatal mistake: you messed with my family.

Bill simply didn't understand. Humans feelings were something that seemed so meaningless. Those words were empty to him. And yet…

They made him feel something buried within his soul. Something that he had tried to forget for a _very_ long time. Still panicking, he shouted :

« You're making a mistake! I'll give you anything! Money! Fame! Riches! Infinite power! Your own galaxy! Please ! »

His own words hit him : He was the most powerful being just a moment ago, and now he was begging for mercy to a mortal, a human being ?

The man glared at him coldly. He wasn't going to change his mind.

Bill tried desperately to use every power he had left, trying to escape this fire trap. Nothing worked.

« No! What's happening to me?! »

The end was near. From the depth of his chaotic, dark soul, painful memories were rushing through him. The memories buried within his mind. Memories that he refused to face so many times. Memories he didn't want to see, that he wanted to forget so badly...his world...his family…He was seeing them...He could feel them. His whole life flashed before him. And among those memories...words..no, a prophecy appeared to him. He suddenly knew what he had to do. Without thinking, he shouted :

« A-X-O-L-O-T-L! My time has come to burn! I invoke the ancient power that I may return! »

He looked one last time the person who had caused his demise. As he raised a hand towards him, he called his name :

« STAAANNLLEEEEY! »

The man punched him, causing Bill to shatter into small pieces vanishing in oblivion…


	2. Chapter 1: The Awakening

Oblivion… That was it. Every feeling he had just a moment ago were slowly fading away…  
So, was this the end?

He didn't want to accept it. He struggled, refused to die, until…

" **Bill Cipher** " a voice spoke, echoing through his mind.

He didn't need to ask, he immediately knew who it was. The voice kept talking:

" **Bill Cipher. You stand upon the edge of the abyss. You called my name and my powers, to be judged. I, The Axolotl, see your life, your crimes, your monstrosity. In response to your request of judgement, I offer you a way to redeem yourself from your sins, a new life, a new form, to wash your corrupted soul. You shall live among humans, and submit to their rules, so you can be forgiven for your past actions. You will be now know as "Yvan Arradion"**

When he stopped talking, Bill felt like he was drawn into the abyss, until he felt absolutely nothing.

It flowed what seems to be long hours to him, stuck in the dark, before he felt a new sensation, quite uncomfortable, as if something bright was standing above him.  
Then he realised that he could move. Being able to control his every move again, the first thing he did was to wake up.

First, he only sees white, coming from the light who was making him felt uncomfortable for the last few minutes. Without looking, he searched for a switch, anything to turn this light off. As soon as he found one and pressed it, Bill saw another light source, dimly lighting up the room he was in. Outside, it was nighttime. It took a few minutes before he was able to discern his surroundings in the dark :

He saw the slender body of a young man, with shaking legs, weak and submitted to gravity. A being who felt fragile, staring at his hands, his thin fingers, before he screamed without knowing if it was a cry of fear or anger.  
Was this really him? He felt prickling all over his skin, feeling for the very first time the heat of a yellow sweater, or the cold of the floor under his naked feet. The eyes of the being newly formed looked upon his two legs, which were covered by black trousers. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, and in the stillness, he suddenly heard, and felt something pounding in his chest regularly. It was pounding in his ears, and he was able to hear it. Hear something he wasn't able to control. He looked around, only to face a blond figure with hazel eyes and freckles. A figure with a thin face. Bill screamed again, startled, before realising that he was looking at a mirror. Was this how he now looked like? A kid,- Worst : A human! - a blond kid, vulnerable to the world around him? He saw, in the reflection of his own sight, something he had already saw somewhere else : terror.

Once the panic had passed, he saw, or rather felt warm tears running down his cheeks. One thing led to another, and he then felt like he then felt like he had something blocking his throat, almost stopping his breath. His hands were shaking. He didn't understand what was happening to him…

All those things he originally wasn't dependant of were slowly making sense, Bill was taking into consideration everything new, every parameter he was now dependant of. From the temperatures to the sense of touch, which was the most indescriptible to him: the skin's softness, the wall's rigidity, the flexibility of the clothes...

Then, new sensations rushed through him. Unpleasant ones. First, he felt a burning sensation, like a deep hole digging through his stomach, causing a real pain making him lose his balance and getting dizzy. This was hunger. A warning coming directly from the body, telling to go find a power source as soon as possible...But what was this source? He never cared for that before, since he didn't need it. So he searched through the whole apartment, finding the answer pretty quickly: food.

Bill started to walk. The coolness of the floor caused him to shiver a little. He then found a fridge. In the fridge was a sandwich, simply put there, like if everything had been planned.

But one problem come to his mind: He didn't knew exactly how the humans were eating. It was something completely new to him. Strangely, he found out instinctively, it was almost like the body knew, but not the mind. But at least that was the right way.

Along with the unpleasant feelings caused by hunger came the strange sensations caused by the taste.

He firstly understood that those feelings only occurred on the tongue, and slightly in the throat, too. Tastes came at specific points: sweet, salty, sour and bitter along the whole range of flavours he didn't even know.

After that, he faced a new feeling "When is it going to stop?" he asked himself, while trying to understand why his tongue seemed detached, almost glued in the front roof of the mouth. He had the impression that those two elements were crumbling, he needed to rectify this.  
Looking through the fridge once again, he stumble upon a bottle of water. As he had already seen humans do this before, he simply did the same gesture.

Bill, not used at all to be under the influence of gravity, now felt heavy, weak. Almost as if the world was weighing on his two shoulders. This specific need was really getting to his mind. He hated this feel. He was less and less able to properly think, and was he felt like his strength was getting more and more, so he simply let himself fell on a nearby couch. As he grew exhausted, he kept his eyes close, listening once again the sound pounding in his chest. It was getting slower, but nothing alarming. His breath was also slowing down. For one moment, he almost believed he was dying again, but he soon chased that idea out of his mind.  
"Why would I feel so well if I was dying?". This was the last thought he had, before falling asleep.

Bill was walking in a long corridor, looking at his surrounding. He didn't not immediately recognise where he was. When was the last time he came here? He didn't even remember by now. It has been too long for that. Even so, everything seemed so familiar, yet at the same time threatening. His legs were shaking at every steps, he felt insecure. He heard whispering coming from behind.

\- Who's there ?! He shouted, turning around.

Nobody answered. He started to walk again, feeling very nervous in this viciously long hall. Reaching a door, he heard voices coming from a room. So he listened…

\- Dad? Mom? Are you there?

He slowly opened the door. In front of him, in the nothingness, were standing two familiar figures. Two silhouettes looking like his long dead parents.

\- Are you happy with yourself, Bill? the first figure spoke.

\- Look what you have done.

As he tried to reach for them, he was pushed back. The two figure suddenly caught fire.

\- Look what you have done to us.

Everything around him started burning. He wanted to reach them, but he felt heavy, weak, unable to move. Raising an arm towards them, he shouted:

\- No ! Mom ! Dad ! NO !

Although he kept screaming, nothing was happening. After a while, he was finally able to turn away. He felt breathless, his heartbeat getting more and more stronger as he saw what looked like his former home. Flames were consuming everything. This scene was reminding him something he had lived, something among the memories he had hidden deep inside him. This feeling of helplessness he could not get rid of was starting to get to his mind.  
The two figures got closer.

\- See what you did to us…? The first figure spoke

You still are our child... Quietly added the second.

The silhouettes both put their arms around him,embracing him.

\- Goodbye, Billy'.

After this words, the two headed to the burning house, until they became part of it.

\- No ! Mom ! Dad ! Come back ! COME BACK ! Please ! Anyone ! D-Don't leave me alone...

… But nobody came.


	3. Chapter 2: Home

Bill suddenly woke up with a start, keeping himself from screaming, breathless. It took him a few minutes before he realised what he had just seen wasn't real. Nothing had happened. He just had a nightmare - which was rather ironic, for a dream demon -. Catching his breath, he put his arms around his knees, resting his head on his knees, sobbing. The memory of his parents, witnessing them die once again, all those pictures rushing through his head, again and again...This horrible searing pain in his chest, who just wouldn't go away, weakened him more and more. He whispered: "Mom...Dad...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Minutes flowed by before he was able to calm himself. The nocturnal silence ruled once again the room. There were no more lights. Moreover, he was no longer on the couch, but in a bed. Somebody had moved him there. But he was too tired to even notice.  
Here, in the middle of the night, he felt like the shadows were dancing around him. Almost like something was observing him in a corner. Something disturbing, threatening, dangerous and invisible. He almost felt like the demons of the nights were going to come to claim his soul. Yet, he managed to fall asleep once more, in a dreamless sleep.

Bill woke up once again, many hours had passed, and he was finally in good shape. He rose up, a little confused. Turning his head to the right, he saw curtains blocking a weak light. It finally hit him: He was not in the same place as before. He removed the sheet who covered him, he sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes. Once he was up, standing on his feet, he leaved the room, stumbling a little. Sunlight filled the next room, causing him to step back at first, raising an arm to his eyes, struck by this lightning change. Once he got used to it, he entered the room. That was where he was before he was moved : the living room. He immediately recovered his marks. It was daytime and the sun passed through the room, setting up a warm summer's end atmosphere.

But hearing a bird sing on the balcony brought him back to reality : Where was he? He remembered that the Axolotl told him that his new name was Yvan now, and that he had to "live among human". But nothing else. Obviously, it meant that he had to live like them, but can a teen really manage to live on his own? Certainly not.

Something then hit him: The window leading to the balcony was open, and he had been moved during the night… Listening closely, he heard two distinctives voices coming from the kitchen. Maybe he wasn't alone after all?

He opened the door a little, quietly peeking inside. He had already been in the room during the night, but he was looking for the source of the voices. He glimpsed two persons, a man and a woman, standing up, with their elbows leaning against a window. He listened them talking:

\- I would have not wanted to be in his shoes right now, the woman spoke.

\- At least he won't have problems at school.

\- I wouldn't be too sure of that. Even if he lived for thousand years, it doesn't change the fact that he might have never seen some stuffs.

\- Look, we'll see by ourselves, alright? That why we're here. To make sure everything goes well.

He decided to quietly enter the room. The two person turned towards him. The man had brown hair with hazel eyes. The woman had blond hair, very similar to Bill's. She came towards him.

\- Speaking of the devil, hello Yvan.

\- Er...Hi?

\- Don't worry, we know everything, the man whispered, we are here to make sure everything goes well for you.

\- Ah. So, you know my name isn't really Yvan, right?

\- We know. But we also now that's your new name by now.

The woman put a hand on his shoulder.

\- We know it must be difficult for you, it's completely sudden, new and strange. Are you getting used to it?

\- Yeah, I mean, I think I might have missed a lot of things.

\- Don't worry, you have two days to get used to this.

\- ...What?

While leaving the room, the man simply answered:

\- Because you're going to school on Monday, like every kids of "your age"

Stunned, Bill turned towards the woman.

\- Oh, don't worry, we're here to teach you, she said, trying to reassure him. You should take a shower. I think you know by now that a human body requires a lot of attention. And believe me when I say that you only saw the tip of the iceberg.

So the human body, in addition to be weak and fragile, requires a huge attention. How could Humans support this? It seemed that it was natural to them to always be very careful about everything. He thought of it while going in the bathroom. Once he closed the door, he took off his clothes. He was already used to the human body, as he had possessed more than one, but to think that he could not damage this one, since he would literally wouldn't have another, was more problematic to him.

He entered the shower, not sure what to do observed the device at first. It didn't seem that complicated, after all.  
After a few moments, he decided to turn the water on. Temperatures were still something very abstract to him, but he was getting used to it. He took a moment to think this through: "The skin is something rather fragile. If it's too hot, I might burn myself. But if it's too cold…" He shook his head "Anyway, I think the message will get through pretty quickly". So he tried different settings. He was right: hot water left a burning sensation. But cold water too. I wasn't exactly the same, but it was still very unpleasant.

Once he got the hang of it, water became much more nice. Here was something curious: water seemed to be a vital element to humans.  
The sensation of the water running down the skin. This was a different sensation from any other. It was a quite pleasant one, like a memory he never had. He stayed still for a few minutes, with a little smile. Then he turned the water off, before grabbing a bottle of shampoo. He was told to wash his hair, since they were a bit long. He stared the bottle for a few minutes, before he began to feel a little cold, so he let the slimy cream from the bottle slip in his hands, before applying it for a few minutes on his hair. Finally, he turned the water back on, rinsing his hair. He did the same with shower gel. Afterwards, he stepped out of the shower, drying himself quickly before dressing up with clean clothes. Once done, he dried his hair, while looking in the steamy mirror. His clothes had changed compared to the previous ones: He was only wearing black. He frowned a little "Yeesh, I look like a depressed person like this."  
While dressing up, he suddenly notice the Zodiac Wheel inked on his back. He was surprised at first, but then shrugged, not even asking why the Axolotl had choose to leave this mark here. He came out of the bathroom, going through the kitchen to go to the living room, where the two adults were at.

\- There you are. We need to talk, the man say with a strict tone. Sit down.

He pointed at a chair put in front of a round table. Bill sat, staring the woman in front of him.

\- You know why you're here, right? she asked, with a much more calm tone.

\- Yeah, I know…

\- We, are here to make sure everything goes just fine… sort of like parents. The man added.

\- Of course, we know we will never really be your parents, but you need to play along. She gave him a patient smile. The Axolotl already took care of everything. You have a new identity, and you are already registered everywhere you need to be.

\- Great...I think? answered Bill. And what am I supposed to call you?

\- Technically, you should do like every other kid and go with "dad" and "mom". The man sighted

\- Otherwise, you may call us Harley and John Arradion. added the woman.

Bill sighed.

\- Okay, and I suppose I don't have the choice, Do I?

\- Well... no. answered John.

\- You know, you should go out, take some fresh air, to see the neighbourhood.

Harley let on a table a bunch of keys before sitting in the couch, to read a book named "Undertale", while John began to watch a teenager show called "Mew Mew Kissy Kitty". Don't get it wrong it's only to learn new things!


	4. Chapter 3: The Neighbourhood

It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming...In days like these…  
Bill would have ended this world.  
Was he really still thinking of this? After all the crimes he had done, after asking for redemption, would he really want to start all of this again? He was currently simply enjoying the new sensations he was going through: The heat of the sun on the skin. It was a hot day, best time to discover the neighbourhood.  
He looked around him, there were public housing, like the one he was living in. On the other side of the street, a playground where some kids were currently playing on slides and swings.  
He headed to the left side, going under some trees. Even though he had already seen it all before, he had the impression he was discovering them for the very first time. This impression came from the still new things he had discovered, like the heat, or the taste. Now, he was discovering odours. It worked like tastes, balanced, different, sometimes pleasant, sometimes no… All those things were making him aware of the world around him, along with its danger.  
The sounds were much louder here, more diversified: birds chirping, children laughing, dogs barking…  
After walking for awhile, he stopped in front of the gates of a huge building. He raised his head, reading a sign:

"Piedmond High School".

His stared with his hazel eyes the gates. Was this what John was talking about earlier? A building where people stay locked up for 8 hours per day, just to "learn"? He asked himself "What can I possibly learn here? I saw many things. I saw history writing itself, I've seen every mathematical formulae, and even ones that doesn't even exist yet in this world. I've used every single one of them. I've seen every molecules. I read every book, I burnt every book. I won every game and I lost every game. What can I possibly see in this world that I haven't already?  
He continued down his path, continuing his exploration of the neighbourhood. He saw a bakery, a butchery, a pharmacy, and various grocery stores. Everything he originally didn't care about were suddenly becoming important. He didn't even understand why, but he felt like he had to remember their locations. Maybe was it to avoid getting lost.

But it would appear that Bill was completely disoriented, once he realised he had passed in front the same street three times already. "Great. Just great. Once I'm home, I'm never going out again." He muttered to himself.  
He was walking, thinking of a way to get home, completely oblivious of what was happening around him, without realising he was on the road. Suddenly, he felt something grab his arm to pull him on the sidewalk, preventing him just in time from getting run over by a car who was going rather quickly.

\- Are you okay? Asked a woman's voice coming from behind him.

\- Er...Yeah, I'm o-

He stopped talking the moment he faced the person talking to him. For a moment, i almost believed it was Mabel, or Dipper. Fortunately for him, it was impossible.

\- ...I'm okay…

\- You need to watch where you're going when you're going outside like that. It can be dangerous.

\- Er, I...You're right, ma'am. It just that I'm lost…

She stared at Bill. She could indeed see he seemed lost.

\- Where do you live? Do you have your address?

\- My address? Well, er, Yeah...My...Address…

He looked through his pocket, hoping to find something that would help him look less silly. He found his keys. While looking at them, he saw a tag on the keyring, with the following words: "If lost, bring back to 618, Vista Avenue". Bill, after a bit of a thought, finally answered, more confident:

\- 618, Vista Avenue

\- Okay, follow me, I'll bring you home.

She leaded him to a nearby parking. Bill followed her, without asking any question. Once they were in her car, she noted, amused, that he was having troubles to put on his seatbelt.

\- You don't get in a car, often, do you?

\- Er...No...Not really, no.

Honestly, Bill had not been often in a car. As the car engine started, they started chatting:

\- So, you're going to school on Monday too, right?

\- Yeah. At least I think so.

\- You don't look much older than my kids, so you must be in 7th, right?

\- ...I guess so?

The woman glanced at him, before starting to laugh, amused:

\- You're one strange kid. Like my daughter.

Bill laughed awkwardly. He then recognised the street from where he came from. "I'm saved'! he thought, relieved. Once the car stopped, he jumped out of it. The woman stayed still:

\- By the way, what is your name?

\- Bi-...Yvan. Yvan Arradion.

\- Well, Yvan, it was nice to meet you.

Bill walked away, slowly, heading to the building, before going back home, running on his way up to the apartment. He stared at his "parents", before slamming the door.

\- I'm. Never. Going. Out. Again.

\- You will have to if you want your redemption, pal! scoffed John.

\- What happened? Asked Harley, a little worried.

\- I got lost, and someone brought me back.

\- Try to be careful, next time. John said, Dinner in five minutes.


	5. Chapter 4: Start of the School Year

Brilliant light filled the bedroom. Bill raised his arm before his eyes, blinded by this sudden light. He grumbled, still tired.

\- Get up, Yvan, it's Monday, you're going to class in two hours. John said, loudly.

Bill, now almost used to it, sat crossed legs, slowly stretching up. He headed to the kitchen, still sleepy. He took a bowl of cereals, pouring milk into it. He then gazed at his spoon for 5 minutes. He turned to Harley:

\- Say, Harley...Why do I feel like I'm still asleep ?

\- This is called being woken up early for school. You should get use to it, since it's gonna be this way 5 days per week, for the whole year.

\- Great. JUST GREEAAAT. My life is living hell…

\- Hey, don't complain. It could be a lot worst.

-... Yeah...You may be right.

An half hour later, he had eaten all his cereals. He headed to his room, taking off his yellow pyjama, with black pyramids on it, to put on a yellow sweater, and a black pant. Those were obviously colours he liked to wear. He then went out of the room, letting himself fall on the couch. He stayed there, lazing for an hour, before John shook him again.

\- Get up ! We're going to school.

-Wait, already?!

\- Come on, hurry up. Harley packed your schoolbag for today. But you will have to do it yourself next time.

John then threw a red backpack at his face, which was almost completely empty, along with black shoes, before adding loudly: "LET'S GO YVAN HURRY UP ALREADY!"

Bill put his shoes and his backpack on, before he leaved the apartment, feeling a bit anxious. He followed John throughout the stairs, the streets. They arrived in front of the gates of the school, which were opened. John turned around to face him, while they were still away from the crowd:

\- Now, listen to me. Do what the adults tell you to do, don't ask any question, answer when asked. And don't forget: Your name is Yvan, you're 13, you were "born" on the 18th June, in 1999. Today, you're going to see for the first time your class, your classmates, the whole building, and everything that goes with it. At half past 8, you will have to be with the others children of "your age" in the courtyard. It's 8 O'clock currently, so take your time to adjust yourself. I will come back to pick you up at….Half past 3.

\- Wait what? I'm not going home at 12?

\- You really think Harley has the time to take care of you at midday?

\- But...What about you?

\- Me? Seriously? Do I look like a baby sitter? Now get out of my sight!

On this note, John pushed him in the crowd, which dragged him inside the courtyard of the school, passing through some hallways

Bill was starting to panic a little, lost within this crowd, and realising he was shorter than the average kids. He felt like he was suffocating, trapped. Fear rushed through him, while he was forcingly following the crowd's movement.

He quickly managed to break away. He then headed to the halls leading to the yard he had been dragged in. He was almost alone in the halls, inhaling and exhaling. He stared at his shaking hands. "W-What just happened to me ?" he thought, while calming himself. When he was in the middle of the crowd, he felt oppressed, almost feeling like he was going to die if he had not managed to get out of it quickly. He raised his head, looking at a clock, not far from him. It was 8h04.

He walked slowly through the hall, still intimidated by the number of person present in the courtyard, and in the school in general.

Suddenly, something brought him back to reality, lifting him from the ground, before slamming him against a wall…


	6. Chapter 5: An Unpleasant Encounter

Pain is hilarious. That's what Bill would have normally said. But nothing was "normal" to him right now. During the last few days, he had managed to forget his current weakness...Until he now was being brutally slammed to a wall that brought him back to reality: bones can easily break. Bill groaned in pain when his back hit the wall, raising his head to face the threatening shadow that was leaning on him.  
It was a boy, seemingly "older" than him, smirking as he scoffed:

\- What do we have here? Hey, guys! Look what I found! A new toy!

Two others teens got closer to Bill, who swallowed, feeling once again the same fear he had learn to avoid crawl in his back. Surrounded, he raised his head, and said while trying to sound confident:

\- W-What do you want?

\- What do we want...That's a good question! Hey, guys? What do we want from him?

\- Hm...I dunno...His money?

\- That's a good idea.

The boy turned to Bill, smirking, causing Bill to feel very uncomfortable, by almost recognise himself in the bully's eye...

Well, his former self.

As a reflex, he raised a hand trying to use his powers…  
Except it wasn't working at all. He didn't have any power anymore.

\- So, shorty, give us your money, or you're gonna have a bad time…

\- I-I don't have any.

\- Really? Too bad for you, then.

Bill just had enough time to turn a little before he took a hard hit on in the face. He gasped in pain, as he raised his hand to his face. He felt a crack, followed by a searing pain. The pain was so intense his eyes teared up. He raised a hand to his nose, and when he opened his eyes, he realised that a bit of blood was running from his nose. He knew that he could bleed. But it was at this moment he really understood it. A second hit was coming, almost as fast as the first one, maybe even harder, brutal, and painful.

\- Hey, you! Leave him alone! a voice shouted.

The bullies turned to the person speaking. The one holding Bill scoffed:

\- And what exactly are you going to do, little girl?

Bill turned to the person speaking too. His heart skipped a beat. He would have recognised this pink sweater with a multicolored shooting star anywhere.  
It was Shooting Star, or Mabel Pines. One of the people who had caused his demise. She took out her grappling hook, aiming for the bully holding Bill. The boy frowned, speaking with a slightly worried tone in his voice, that didn't go unoticed by Bill.

\- Put that toy away, little girl, you're going to hurt yourself with that.

\- HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !

Mabel, who literally shouted a war scream, shoot the grappling hook directly in the guy in front of her, who, surprised, took the shot directly in the face, which seemed rather dropped Bill, who fell on the ground, before trying to step back against the wall behind him, paralyzed in fear. What was she going to do to him?  
The bullies ran away, callling her " Freak !". Mabel, walking heroically, got closer to Bill, without recognising him. She held out her hand:

\- Hey, the name's Mabel! You're new here? So am I! Hey, you're hurt!

Bill was too afraid to even answer anything, or to even grab the hand she was reaching out for him. Fear was literally paralyzing him. At least, Pine Tree wasn't here to-

\- Mabel! What happened here? Some guys just run past me, and...Wait, who's this?

Dipper. Even though he wasn't wearing is cap with the pinetree, it was definitely him. This time, Bill felt like he was trapped.

\- Him? That's my new friend!

\- Friend? Hm-hm. He seem a bit nervous.

\- No he does noooooot!

\- We should take him to the infirmary, don't you think?

Mabel nodded. But when they tried to get closer to him, Bill stepped back a little, almost wishing he could be able to get through the walls. This movement, this terrified look in his eyes... It seemed familiar to Dipper.

\- Mabel, you're sure we haven't met him before?

\- Of course noooot! I would have remembered!

\- Yeah, maybe. Hey listen, we're not going to hurt you.

And so, Bill had no choice but to be dragged to the infirmary, speechless.

The infirmary was divided in severals rooms: a waiting room where there were chairs for the student to sit on, waiting for their turn. The resting room, where were placed many beds, empty for the moment. They were a bit different than the ones in the house, but Bill didn't care right now. Finally, the doctor's office. Mabel knocked on the door. No response.

\- Hmm...The doctor's not here right now.

\- We will wait for him then. I hope you don't mind?

Bill just shook his head. The twins sat. He sat as well, but one chair away from the two teens. They looked at him, seemingly worried by his strange behavior. His eyes never met Dipper's or Mabel's, and without even realising it, he played nervously with his fingers.  
Sometimes, he was looking quickly at the corners of the room, before starring at his feet. Mabel decided to intervene, taking a step closer. He didn't notice her presence, until she put her hand on his shoulder, startling him.

\- Hey, are you okay? You don't look well?

She gave him a friendly smile, trying to reassure him, but Bill really didn't fell any better. He was unable to speak. Before he even had the time to answer, a person stepped in the room.  
It was a tall man, with dark brown skin and with short curly black hair. He looked calmly through the whole room, before laying his eyes on Bill. Immediately, he knelt down to him, making Bill step back a little, surprised.

\- Hey calm down, what happened to you?

\- Bullies beat him up, sir. We helped him and brought him here.

Raising up, the man took a key out of his pocket and opened the office. He turned to Bill, ordering:

\- Follow me, I'll take care of your injuries. You two, are you with him?

\- Yes.

\- Very well. Wait here.

Without a second thought, Bill did what he was told, not wanting to stay any longer with the twins. Closing the door once they were in, the doctor took a white, soft cloth he gave to him so he could wipe the blood running from his nose. The doctor then headed to a corner of the room, while Bill sat on chair, not knowing what to do.

\- Bullied on your first day, it sure is no luck.

The teen didn't answer, ashamed of himself. He just had been humiliated by mere humans, and even worst, save by two of his worst enemies. He had never felt so low. The man came back to him, holding a plastic bag with blue goo inside of it. He wrapped it with papers, before he handed it to Bill.

\- Here, put this on your nose.

Bill took the wrapped bag. He realised in a few seconds that the blue goo was ice. He remembered that he had already seen humans apply ice on small injuries, like the one he had. I pressed it against his nose, chilling a little when the icy goo touched his skin.

\- What's your name? The doctor asked.

\- Y...Yvan…

\- Well, Yvan, you're lucky you found friends who you can count on.

Friends? This word hit him. Him, friend with the two children one of the main reason for the loss of his powers? Never had he felt that weak against humans before. Imaging himself bonding with them just made him feel very uneasy. It seemed so absurd to him. The doctor noticed that Bill had not said a word. Concerned, he asked;

\- Is everything okay?

\- ...Er, Y-yeah...I...I'm okay...I think…

\- What about your nose?

Bill suddenly realised that the pain on his nose was almost gone. It was still here, but far less painful than before. What this what ice did to humans injuries?

\- I...It's less painful, now.

\- Good. If the pain comes back during the day, don't hesitate to come by. And if those dumb kids who think they're above everything bother you again, go tell a monitor.

The man then looked on a watch on his finger.

\- You should hurry up, the bell is going to ring soon.

\- ...ring..?

Bill stood up and leaved the room, a little confused. He was immediately brought back to reality by the high pitched voice of Mabel, asking:

\- You're back! Are you okay now ?!

\- Er...Yeah…

\- Oh! So you _can_ talk! Great ! Now, we have to go to the gathering point, so we know in which class we're in!

Dipper nodded, standing up. They both leaved the room. Seeing Bill was hesitating, Dipper turned to him:

\- Hey, you're going to stand there or what?

\- No...Of course not…

He followed him, though keeping a small distance between him and the twins.


	7. Chapter 6: First Hours

Strange scenes took place before Bill. First, the sound of an alarm ringing throughout the whole building, resonating in the halls. It was surprising, and unpleasant to hear. The students, who were very calm just a moment ago then gathered to reform a the same mass stampede in which he had been lost earlier. Except that this time, there was no way get lost, since the twins were guiding him through. Mabel was making her way through the crowd, while singing loudly. She sometimes used her grappling hook to reach another place. It was hard to loose her from sight. Dipper was more discreet. Sometimes, he was disappearing into the crowd, only to be once again few minutes later, startling Bill every time.

As they followed the crowd, the three teenagers reached the courtyard, where they were joined by some adults who stood out of the mass. One of them asked for everyone to keep quiet, and in an instant, Everything was silent again. The man who just asked for this silence was the principal. He gave the students a welcome speech, reminding them some "rules" they had to respect.

Bill really didn't like this word. Humans were restricting themselves with too many "rules" and "laws". Those were "Values" he truly hated, and from which he tried to "liberated" this world. But now, he was forced to bend to those rules. As he listened, he wondered if he would be able to bear all those restrictions.

The Principal then introduced the whole staff, inviting them to take a step forward. Each of them had specific roles in the school, but the Principal didn't take the time to describe all.

Bill recognised, among the crew, the Doctor, who was quietly chatting with some of his colleagues.

Finally, the pedagogic team for this year was introduced, along with the respective school subject that were attributed to each teacher. Once they were done, the Principal ended his speech by calling out each student to line up with the rest of their class.

Every student answered "present !" when their name was called. Bill had to wait until the third class to be called to finally hear his name:

\- Yvan Arradion !

\- ...P-present !

He headed towards the head teacher of his class, a woman. He waited a few minutes for the others student to be called. Many names were called: Demorgny, Flynn, Johnson, Logan, Luv…

Bill was distracting himself by counting the number of student. If his calculations were correct, they were only 3 left to be called:

\- Patrick MacNamara !

\- Present !

\- Mabel Pines !

\- PRESEEEEEEEENTE!

\- Mason Pines !

\- ...Present !

Bill felt his heart stop once more. This was a nightmare! The Pines twins? In his class ?! He thought he was going to fall apart. The two teenagers joined him. Mabel was already talking with some others student, while Dipper seemed to be spacing out. At least, they weren't paying him any attention. The less they talked to him, the better it was.

The teacher leaded the class throughout the halls. Students were chatting. Only Bill was remaining completely silent, only focusing on not losing of sight his old enemies. He wanted so badly to escape from here, to run far away. But he couldn't. He knew it would be stupid to do that. He had to follow.

The class entered a classroom. This one was pretty big, with 4 lines of table with 3 sits on each. Students were able to chose their own place - "temporarily" the teacher noted -. So Bill decided to sit in the back of the class, close to a window. Fortunately to him, no one came to sit next to him. He wasn't really interested in "socializing" with any of his classmates. Dipper and Mabel sat together, in the front.

The Teacher asked to the class to calm down. Once it was silent, she introduced herself:

\- Now that every student is calm, we can finally begin with the formalities: I'm , your biology teacher, and head teacher. I'll be responsible of your school progress over the year.

Bill lost focus rather quickly, distracted by noises coming from outside, although quieted by the glasse. He sighed, spacing out, wondering what he was going to do now until Ms. Jaskier's voice brought him back to reality:

-Young man? Are you listening to me? You must be having troubles hearing in the back. Please get in the front. There is a sit between those two students who have to stop making noise, please.

She pointed to Dipper and Mabel's table. The two were childishly quarrelling with their pens. Bill swallowed.

Why him? Why here? Why with them? He would gladly have started negociation with the teacher, if that wasn't for the look in her eyes, showing she wasn't going to change her mind. Without any other choice, he moved to the sit the teacher pointed out, muttering.

Once he sat down, Ms. Jaskier gave to each student ID cards they had to keep. The class then noted some information, like the name of their others professors. Once done, Ms. Jaskier gave them a timetable. Bill discovered the subjects he was going to "learn" during this school year.

Finally, the woman asked to take a paper sheet to write down the needing supplies for her class.

Bill, like the others student, was writing down the list. His hand was shaking. Not that writing was particularly hard, even though his handwriting was...particular. The shakings wasn't helping at all. But he was really feeling uneasy. Mabel leaned towards him, whispering:

-You decided to draw instead of writing?

Bill looked at his paper sheet. His eyes widened: without realising it, he had written in ciphers! He hurried up to erase all of it before Dipper saw this.

\- Aw, You should have left it. That was a good idea! Here! I'll do drawings too!

Mabel had not recognised the symbols, to his relief. But Bill wasn't listening to her anymore. In fact, he was just trying to ignore her. Anyway, she started to doodle on her book.

The hour flowed by very slowly to Bill. He truly felt unconfortalbe between the two teenagers, who tried to sympathise with him, in vain. Every time, he didn't answer, or he muttered some incomprehensible words before shutting down immediately. His behavior was really intriguing to the twins.

Students were free to leave the room once the bell rang for the second time, startling him once more. The others students put away their stuff in their bags, before leaving. Bill did the same, though a bit more nervous. He was finally able to leave the twin's table. He hurried up rejoining his others classmates, following them to the next class.

The next hour, in english class, went by rather quickly. This time, Bill was lucky enough not to be too close to the twins, and able to clear his mind from them.

The teacher of this class gave them almost the same speech as Ms. Jaskier, but shorter. He just asked them to buy a notebook, and explained to them what they were going to learn this year. Before Bill even realised it, class was over.

And this time, student didn't go to the next one.

He learned that after some hours in class, student were given a pause, called "recess".

Having talked to nobody yet, Bill stayed alone, in a corner, trying to avoid the twins, while observing the behaviors humans had during this time.

Students were gathering in groups of friends, sharing what they had seen or did during the morning. Some were arguing with each others, and some others even fighting, even though it didn't last very long, since adults were monitoring the courtyard. Everyone was chatting around him, but he wasn't listening a single word. The din around him was giving him a hard time to focus. Among the crowd, he was able to recognise some people from his class, even though he had not remembered all of them.

Lost in thoughts, Bill didn't notice a person approaching him from behind...


	8. Chapter 7: Léa

When a hand felled on Bill's shoulder, he was startled, immediately turning around to face the person behind him.  
It was a girl, who seemed to be the "same age" as him, although a bit taller in size. She had long wavy brown hair. The girl was wearing a red t-shirt and black pants. She was staring at Bill with her grey eyes, and seemed a little worried:

\- H-hey...are you okay?

\- Er...I..Yes?

\- Are...are you sure? You were looking uneasy earlier.

That's when Bill suddenly recognised her. She was one of her classmate.

\- Y-Yeah...I was just...distracted…

\- And...what happened to your face? You look like you were beaten up…

\- Well, I...

He hesitated. Should he tell her? Then again, what was the harm in telling her?

\- I...I was unlucky enough to run into some bullies this morning...

\- ...Oh...I-I see...I understand...Sorry to rub salt into the wound…

\- ...It's fine. Talking about it won't kill me so...

\- ...If y-you say so...

Even though it seemed surprising, Bill found that girl nice. She seemed as uneasy as him, although it obviously wasn't for the same reason. Being in company of someone else made him feel a little bit better. Their discussion was interrupted by the bell ringing. Before they rejoined the others, the girl asked:

\- By the way...I'm Léa. What...What's your name?

\- ...The name's Yvan.

\- Yvan? Okay….I...I'll see you in class.

He lost her from his sight as he entered the crowd. Finding his way through was much easier now, thanks to Mabel's occasional shouts every once in awhile. It was strangely helping him a lot to find his way in this hell of a hallway.

During the next hour, the students met their History and Geography teacher. This time, the professor choosed where each students would sit in the classroom. Bill found himself between Mabel and Léa. He felt somewhat better than when he was between the twins.  
Like his colleagues, the teacher asked for some notebooks, along with some supplies, like colored pencils.

\- I already have them! whispered Mabel, startling him for the third time today.

He turned to her, and saw that she had, indeed, a box full of colored pencil scattered all over her table, and even some going on her neighbour's desk. She was drawing on the paper, doodling the supplies the teacher was asking.  
Bill didn't answer, not knowing what to say, hearing Léa quietly giggling amused by Mabel's strange personality.  
The hour passed, slowly. The teacher announced them the school program for this year, in geography and history. Bill already knew all of it, so he wasn't going to learn something new, aside from human's point of view on their own history.

Once the bell rang, the students headed to the next class: Technology. The teacher allowed the students to sit wherever they wanted, and gave them a list with all the supplies they would need for her class. Bill was interested by this subject: He would be able to see exactly how humans were reasoning about building, or how they tired themselves from trying helplessly to preserve the resources of their planet, which he knew were doomed to disappear one day or another.  
Students were ordered to make groups of four, which would last for the whole year. Giving a little pat on his shoulder, Léa asked Bill:

\- Hey...Would you like...t-to be in my group?

\- ...Sure, why not?

She gave him a smile, seemingly happy from his answer. Bill hesitated, before smiling back. He didn't know if it was sincere or if he was forcing himself to do so, but he just felt like he had to answer.  
Dipper's voice suddenly asked, coming from behind:

\- Hey, mind if we join your group?

Before the blond haired boy even had time to respond, Lea replied:

\- S-Sure ! Of course!

\- Thanks ! That's cool from you !

Bill thought he was going to kill himself. Was he doomed to have the Pines twins on his back all day?  
Mabel then asked Léa many question:  
"What's your name ?"  
"Where are you from ?"  
"Do you like animals ?"  
"What's your favorite colour?"  
"What do you like to do?"  
" What do you have a moon shaped mark on your hand? "

Dipper stopped her:

\- Mabel, give her the time to answer at least one question !

\- Oops..Sorry. I might have got a bit carried away…

\- …"might"... muttered Bill, sarcastically.

Léa gave her an embarrassed smile, answering:

\- Well...I'm Lea...I'm 13...I...I live next to Piedmont...Y-yeah...I do like animals.

\- REALLY? I loooooove animals too ! I have a pig pet at home ! His name's Waddles ! You should see him, he's so adorable ! I'm sure you would like him !

\- ...Er...Yeah...Maybe...I think?

\- And for the others questions?

\- W-Well, my favorite color...is red...I like...swimming. And er...I-It's just a birthmark. Nothing...amazing to see.

\- Well I think it's a pretty nice one! You don't have to be ashamed of it, you know! If it can make you feel any better, my brother has one too! Look!

Before Dipper even reacted to this, Mabel lifted his bangs up, revealing a strange birthmark on his forehead: a big dipper-like birthmark. Embarrassed, Dipper pushed away Mabel's hand, quickly hiding his birthmark.

\- Mabel ! Don't you ever do that again ! You know how much I don't like showing this !

\- Come on, Bro-bro! What's to be ashamed of?

\- Leave me _alone_.

\- The group in the back! Please keep quiet when I'm talking. The teacher ordered.

-Yes, Miss, we're sorry.

The hour flowed by. Dipper and Mabel's presence was still making Bill uneasy, although less than this morning, thanks to Léa's presence. He was slowly getting used to it, even though he made sure he wasn't writing in ciphers this time. 10 minutes before the bell rang, he felt once again like he had a hole in his stomach. He realised that he was hungry.

\- Just what I needed… he muttered...

This sensation bothered him for the rest of class, making every minute way longer to him. Once class was over, he started hearing gurgling coming from his stomach.

\- It's finally over...I was getting pretty hungry…. sighed Dipper.

At least, Bill wasn't the only one.

\- In that case, let's go feed our tummies, dear brother! But where do we find the cafeteria?

\- Let's just follow the crowd Mabel. That'll make it easier.

\- You're right! Let's go, team !

Mabel immediately rushed into the crowd.

\- Hey! Mabel ! Wait for us ! Dipper shouted, going after her.

Léa was going to do the same, but she stopped as she saw that Bill wasn't moving. She turned to him:

\- A-are you coming, Yvan?

\- ...Yeah, yeah...I'm coming...

She gave him another friendly smile, before going after the twins, followed by Bill.  
The cafeteria wasn't hard to find. Like Dipper had said, many students were going there on lunch time. The group make their way into the line. The twins and Léa took out their cafeteria card, so Bill did the same.  
They then waited 10 minutes before being able to go in the building.

In the cafeteria, each student took their own tray, on which they put the food that was proposed to them. So they had the choice between severals dishes. The food seemed appealing, every new scent was just making Bill's hunger grow. In the end, he took one of each.

The four teenagers sat at the edge of a long table. During lunch, Dipper and Mabel spoke a lot. Mostly to each other, or with Léa, though she was a lot more quiet. Bill couldn't help but look outside, spacing out. Many times, Lea took his head out of the clouds, trying to make him join the conversation they were having. But each time, the young man was reluctant of having a long discussion with the twins, so he listened for a minute or two, before spacing out again.  
Lunch was over quickly, and once they got outside, they headed to a corner of the courtyard, where they took place, resting. They stayed quiet for a while. Bill noted that even though they were still some chatting in the courtyard, everything was calm in the yard.

It seemed weird to him to see humans so...calm. In Gravity Falls, every resident were always doing something, even in the night. There was always something happening.  
Even the twins were acting different, which was intriguing.  
During the summer, Dipper was constantly looking for paranormal activities, going through endless, yet sometimes pointless adventures, going nowhere, while Mabel had spend her time trying to find every reason in the world to remain happy and to make everyone around her happy.  
But right now? They were calm, silent even. Mabel was just doodling, and Dipper grabbed a small notebook where he was writing some stuff down.  
Léa was spacing out, looking in the air. She sometimes turned her head to look around her, smiling at Bill whenever her eyes met his, before going back to her initial pose.

Nothing was happening. It was calm. Too calm. Bill didn't like that at all. He found himself nervously playing with a pen, waiting for something to happen. It was getting a lot stressful to him.  
Fortunately, it was not long until the bell rang again. Getting up, the twins, while putting back their stuff in their backpack, said:

\- Well...Only two hours left.

\- And then, WE RETURN TO OUR LIBERTY ! NO MORE SCHOOL AND GOING BACK HOME ! HOLD ON WADDLES I'M COMING !

Many people turned to Mabel as they heard her screaming. Lea and Bill, feeling uneasy by this scene, slipped away quietly from this awkward scene, while Dipper facepalmed, embarrassed.  
Once they got away from the crowd, Léa and Bill stared at each other, before starting to laugh nervously. It was the first time of his new life he truly wanted to laugh out loud. He didn't even know why. It just had to come out. The two teenagers calmed themselves quickly.

\- L-Let's go...before we're late. Léa said.

Bill nodded, and the two made their way to their class.


	9. Chapter 8: Tac

The next two hours slipped away quickly. First, the student met again with , who, once she was done explaining what they were going to do this year, started her lesson, on the environment.  
Bill didn't really care about this, and was getting a little bored during the hour. After this morning, he was careful not to sit in the back of the class again. Léa had come to sit beside him. He didn't mind her presence. On the contrary, he prefered that she was here.  
Then, it was the music class. In the classroom, there were some instruments, that didn't seemed to be used very often, since most of them were covered in dust. Students weren't sitting in front of tables this time, but in circles. They had to use a solid support to write. The teacher asked every student if he knew how to play any instrument. Most of the class didn't play any instrument. Some of them knew how to play the flute, the trumpet, some others the drums. There were some pianist too. Dipper probably played the biggest instrument in the room: the sousaphone. As for Mabel, she claimed knowing how to play the piano, even though Bill knew well she was just making music with randoms sounds from a synthesizer. Léa was among the non-musician group.  
When it was his turn to answer, the young man, after hesitating for a second, answered he knew how to play the piano.  
After that, the teacher asked some supplies for her class. The list was shorter than the others though, since the they were mainly going to sing. How was singing out loud in front of the others classmate useful at all? Bill asked himself. He didn't find the answer.  
Nothing interesting happened from that, until the bell, rang, for the last time today.  
Every student rushed outside, as if they had been kept in prison for years. Bill waited for the mass to be gone before leaving the room. In the hall, Léa was waiting for him. She followed him, without saying a single word, until they reached the School's entrance. She then headed to a bus, turned to Bill, and said:

\- S-...See you tomorrow?

\- ...y-yeah, sure. Bye...Léa.

She smiled again, before getting in her bus. Once the vehicle was gone, Bill looked around to see if John had arrived. He was not here yet, but he didn't wait for too long. John came by few minutes later.  
Although relieved to be out of this "prison", he stayed quiet towards John, simply walking to his side. So it was his "guardian" who started the conversation:

\- So. What about your day?

\- My d-..? Ah!..Long. By the way, there's some stuff you need to sign.

\- We'll take care of this at home. What happened to your face ?

\- Ah, er...Tough luck.

The talk stopped there, with John letting out a sigh, and Bill simply quietly walking.  
Before getting in the house, John stopped, sighed once more and stared at Bill :

\- Look, Harley thought it would be a good idea to find you a…"companion", so you can learn responsibilities.

\- What do you mean…?

\- You'll see.

Bill pushed the entrance door, put down his backpack, took out his shoes. He headed to the living room. He saw Harley sitting on the couch. She looked at him, smiling weakly:

\- Yvan-, she started before getting cut.

\- Bill.

\- Ehm, yeah. I was saying, you should go to your room.

Bill slightly opened the door to his bedroom. At first, he didn't saw any changes, closing the door behind him. He leaned on the bed and stretched out.  
Something suddenly jumped on him, startling him. He jumped back up.  
What just jumped on him was a little creature mostly white. He held it in his arms. It was a cat. It was a male with a pure colored fur, with light gray stripes all over his body. It almost seemed like he had greyish "gloves" on his paws. His nose and his pads were black. His tail had different shades of grey, darker at the top. He had beautiful green eyes, that were somehow reminding wild grass.  
Bill stared at the animal, stunned. Then he finally understood.  
"So you're the one John was talking about." He said, as he put the feline on his knees. The cat meowed as he rubbed against him. "A creature using his appearance, his sweet side to seduce humans, so they will fulfill his every needs? Here's a creature I appreciate". Bill grinned. He stood up to get back to the living room. The cat, like if it was a reflex, jumped on Bill, and rested on his shoulder. At first surprised by the sudden move of the feline, the young man quickly grinned again.  
In the living room, Bill looked at Harley and John.

\- So, what do you think of your new companion? Harley asked, giving him a patient smile.

\- He's nice. I like him.

\- And what are you gonna call him? said John.

\- Hmm…...

Bill stared for a few instants the animal.

\- Tac.

\- Tac? That's….Original.

Later, while they were having dinner, Harley fully explained to him how to take care of his cat, but mostly, that it was HIS role to take care of him. It wasn't something that bothered him. After all, deep down, he and Tac were the same.


	10. Chapter 9: Class

The next morning, along with the rest of the week, everything seemed to be at first a discovery, then it just seemed like everything was repeating over and over again. Bill was introduced to the concept of "homeworks", and discovered all the subject he was going to "learn" throughout the year. Mathematics were a piece of cake to him. He already knew everything he had to know, and his mathematical notions, although he didn't show it to his classmates, were far beyond the teacher's knowledge.  
In the other side, PE was something completely new to him. He had to take into account severals metabolic parameters. Especially the management of efforts and the body getting tired. Finding the middle ground first seemed hard, but Bill got used to it.  
Using computers was new too, although he already had used some in the past.  
Physics was a thing he hated. He was once changing every molecule around him, breaking every physical law. And there he was, studying them. This was a subject he didn't like to talk about.  
Art, on the contrary, was the most fun subject. For the first class, the teacher asked for something simple: students had to draw what passed through their minds.  
So Bill decided to draw his vision of a "better" world to him. This chaotic point of view he had, to make a "fun" world, a "better" world. But now, he simply couldn't do that anymore, forced to let go this ideal he once had. The teacher went to each student, giving his point of view every time. One of the most intriguing drawing was Mabel's one. The teacher tried for a few minutes to try and understand it. It wasn't a surprise at all to Bill. He already knew Mabel's imagination had no limit, since he had her trapped within her own fantasy during the summer.  
But when the teacher came to see his drawing, the man freezed, stunned. He took the drawing in his hands, his expression suddenly changed, he was shocked. He stood there, without moving at all, speechless. he sometimes looked at Bill with a frightened look on his face.  
Bill found that amusing. At least at first, since he then got called at the end of class, where had was asked several questions by the teacher, who was convinced the drawing came from Bill's personal issues. He asked him if he had any psychological-related issue with his "family" - Bill truly hated to hear that word -. The teacher then added he had never saw something so disturbing in his career.  
So Bill got stuck for 10 long minutes before finally being able to go home.  
On the bright side, the twins presence wasn't bothering him as much as before, although he barely even spoke to them. It was even fun sometimes, as there was never a day without something going on around those two, which was quite entertaining.  
Léa's company was most enjoyable as well, as he helped a lot. When he was alone with her, the two often talked for a while, even though they didn't have much to say to each other. Léa was very curious about her new friend, and often asked him questions. But he could only answer half of them. Bill was very careful while answering questions.  
Each day, after school, he took the time to do his homeworks, being watched closely by John and Harley, and once it was done, he was enjoying time with Tac, taking care of him. He didn't talk much with his "guardians", except when they were together for breakfast or dinner. He also had the opportunity to truly experience for the first time in his human life some of human's drinks, like apple juice, orange juice or bottled mineral water.  
On friday morning, as he just arrived, he was welcomed by Dipper and Mabel, who wanted to talk:

\- Hey Yvan!

\- ...H-hi…

\- Léa's not with you?

\- No...She's not here yet?

\- Apparently no. We wanted to invite you two to come over tonight.

\- ...Invite...?

\- Yeah ! We could do our homework together ! And like this you'll meet Waddles! And we can all draw stuff together! And we can show you lots of pictures ! And -

\- Mabel, I think he's got the idea. We asked our parents, and they are okay with this. So what do you say?

\- I...Er...I..

What was he supposed to answer? He didn't know what, and how to respond to them. He wasn't really use to take invitation from his ex-enemies.

\- Oh, Here's Léa! Dipper said, we'll ask her too.

The young girl just arrived, heading to her friends, smiling.

\- H-Hi !

\- Hey ! Would you want to come over to our house tonight? So we can all do lots of stuff together!

\- ...I...Yes...Why not? ...But...I'll have to ask my parents first… she answered.

\- Cool ! We will of course wait for your parent's response.

The three teenagers then turned to Bill.

\- Are...Are you coming too, Yvan? Léa asked.

\- ...Well...I… Yeah!

He answered without thinking. His answered seemingly made Léa happy, as she smiled. The twins also seemed to be happy about it.

\- Great. I'll give your our address, and our phone number, since your parents will surely prefer to have them. And it'll be a way to keep us informed of your parent's answer

As he talked, Dipper gave them both a sheet of paper with the information written on it. Bill and Léa nodded, putting their paper sheets in their backpack.  
A few minutes later, the bell rang and the group headed to their first class.  
The subject of the hour was modern language. It wasn't too hard for Bill, as he had himself witnessed the creation of civilisations, along with the evolution of the language. Many human language were very similar. But on the other side, he was amused to see how people had trouble learning how to speak a language made by their own ancestors. Though he remained pensive through the hour: What was he going to do once he would go to the Pine's house? It was bothering him not to know the answer. For once, his expression didn't lie about it. Léa noticed it, and whispered:

\- Yvan? Is...is everything okay?

\- Yeah,I'm fine, I guess...I was just...thinking.

\- You're sure? You look...stressed.

\- It's nothing, Léa...Don't worry about me...it won't last…

\- ...If you say so. But d-don't hesitate if...if you have any problem...Maybe...just maybe...I can help?

Bill didn't answer. What could he say? Léa was certainly not able to help him, and he couldn't tell her what was bothering him. She wouldn't believe him anyway. He kept quiet for the rest of the hour.  
The next hour, it was Geometry class. Like for maths, Bill perfectly mastered the subject. Once he was familiar with the different tools humans used for geometry, he didn't had any trouble to do the work that the students were ordered to do. He even had the time to do some extra exercise. When there was no more left to do, he looked at the others:  
Dipper was good with maths. He was almost done. Mabel had managed to do some of the asked exercise, while drawing everywhere on her copybook. Bill didn't even ask how she was able to do both. He looked at Léa, who was having trouble on her side. Seeing that she was having a hard time, he offered his help.  
It was the first time of his human life Bill was _willing_ to help someone else. But he really felt like it was something he _had_ to do. Léa was very thankful, letting him know that if he ever had trouble too, she would gladly help him.  
Next was music class. The teacher gave them a song they were going to study and sing in group for an evaluation. But in the meantime, the whole class was going to sing. One thing that Bill didn't like about that, it that some people were singing off key, and some were even doing it on purpose. It was really unpleasant. Mabel was singing louder than the average students. On the opposite side, Dipper's voice was discreet, almost muffled by the others student's voice. Léa had a beautiful singing voice, much more pleasant to listen. Hearing her voice just made Bill forget about the students singing off key.  
He stared at her for a moment, without saying anything. Once the song was over, she slightly turned to him, and seeing that he was looking at her the whole time, she turned away, embarrassed, causing Bill to smile, amused.  
The hour flowed by quickly, and before Bill even realised it, the bell rang. The next hour flowed by quickly too. The teacher kept talking, never writing down anything, while students were heckling. Not being able to focus because of all the noise, nothing interesting happened to Bill. And he was getting pretty tired over the hour.  
It was a big relief to finally hear the bell ring. Dipper and Mabel went ahead to the cafeteria, while Bill and Léa agreed to meet there, since the young girl had something to do first.  
So Bill waited patiently in the halls, waiting for the crowd to be a lot less massive, so he wouldn't be shoved around.  
The hall was almost empty, as the last classes of older students was now gone. At least, that's what he thought, until a guy, taller than Bill, headed to him. He had a big bump on his forehead. The way he looked at Bill was worrying him. He then recognised him: It was the bully who had beaten him at the beginning of the week. The angry guy pinned him against a wall.

\- So, brat, what are you gonna do without your little girlfriend ? The bully mocked.

\- H-Hey ! She...She's not my friend ! L-leave me alone ! What do you want from me ?!

\- Just taking my revenge !

Bill closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as he expected to be hit again.  
He felt a pain in his back: He had collided with something. He then heard a violent sound, like if a door was slammed. He kept his eyes closed, afraid of what could happened to him if he dared opened them. Everything suddenly went silent. Well, almost silent. Everyone was gone to the cafeteria. Everyone but him, of course.  
He slowly opened his eyes, feeling that the most dangerous part was gone. He first didn't understand what was going on. Everything was dark around him, as if his eyes were still close. To make sure of it, he raised a hand to his eyelash. Fear filled his mind, pressing against his chest. Quickly, he used his hands to try managing to define where he was. It seemed to be a small room. a really small one.  
Bill felt trapped again. Uneasy, the blond haired boy looked for a way to get out of here, trying to open the door in front of him. He felt heavy hearted as he realised that it was locked.  
His back pressing against the wall, Bill tried to think this through. But as seconds passed, he had more and more trouble to think straight. He felt a painful headache. he did not understand what was happening. This pain that was slowly getting through his head seemed inexplicable. He slammed against the door using his shoulder, one, two, three times, but the door didn't move at all. Using the wall, he let himself fall on the floor. He stared in the dark abyss in front of him. He called for help, many times. But at this hour, no one could hear him.  
Minutes became an eternity to him, he had the impression the air was running away from him. His lungs were hurting. Was there really no oxygen left for him to breathe? It was what it seemed to him. He leaned his head backwards, trying desperately to catch some breath. When he wanted to get up, he just felt like the walls were getting closer. Now, he was suffocating. Not being able to see his body anymore was causing him to panic, as if the shadows around him were strangling him to shatter his soul.  
He was losing his balance, even on the floor. He wanted to scream, to call for help once more, but he had wasted his forces while panicking. pictures flashed before his eyes, fear taking over, feeling like a weak prey being slaughtered by the predator. He saw the unpleasant memory of his lost parents, the face of this girl whose company he enjoyed, Léa. He saw Dipper, Mabel, John, Harley, the woman who had brought him back to his house when he had gotten lost. This was the last picture he saw, before letting himself collapse alongside the rest of his body, an unbearable pain going through his head and chest. He felt like he was gone, not being able to fight against anything. He finally gave in to the pain, and everything went black


	11. Chapter 10: Invitations

A high pitched voice. That's what Bill first heard. He tried to move, but he felt like his whole body was too heavy. What had happened?

\- Hey ! I think he's waking up!

Who was talking? Where was the person speaking? Why wasn't he able to tell where the voice came from?

\- Yvan? Yvan, can you hear us ?

This voice...it wasn't the same. How many were they?  
Feeling that he was now able to move a little, Bill opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, he didn't feel well. He was not able to recognise the faces that were above him. They were calling out for him. He blinked several times before his sight was back to normal again. Leaning above him were Léa, Mabel and Dipper, who made the girls step back a little

\- We should give him some space.

Bill tried to get up, but he couldn't do so. Everything went blurry again. His head felt dizzy. Léa immediately came to help him lean against a wall.

\- Y-You should probably stay still for a w-while, Yvan.

\- Léa's right. Take time to recover.

His head started to hurt again. He decided to listen to them, staying still as long as he needed. There was no one around here aside from them. So he realised they weren't in the courtyard. His throat was dry, and he had a stomach ache. Mabel, as if she had read his mind, immediately took a out a bottle of water from her bag, and once she had removed the cap she handed it to him:

\- Here, drink this...but not too fast! Don't choke yourself, okay?

Bill did as he was told, and took some sips of water.

\- W...what's...happened? he asked, weakly.

-...That what we wanted to ask you. Léa came to us, worried because you were nowhere to be find. We were worried too, so we decided to look out for you.

\- And I'm the one who found you! And they said they didn't believe me when I suggested that you were in a closet! Mabel added.

\- W-...What?... a closet? Bill repeated, confused.

\- Yeah...It surprised us too. Dipper admitted.

\- Do...Do you remember what happened, Yvan?

\- I...I was...in the halls...I think. And...

Why was it so hard to remember? His couldn't clear his mind. He only had small pieces of what just happened. Everything seemed so confusing. The others stayed quiet, waiting patiently for his answer. The memories suddenly came back. The bully, the slamming door, this suffocating feeling.

\- I...I ran into the same guy… that on Monday…

\- Wait, what ?! This jerk dared bullying you again ?! I'm going to find him and he's gonna wish he never woke up this morning !

\- Mabel! Calm down, we'll take care of this later !

Bill turned to Léa and asked:

\- ...How long was I out?

\- ...Well...From the moment we found you, you...you stayed unconscious for 5 minutes… but…

\- But we think you may have been passed out for more than a few minutes…

\- A good thing we found you, huh? And thanks to who? Meeeeeee!

\- Now, we should hurry if we want to make it to the cafeteria in time. Do...Do you think you will be able to go? Do you need more time to fully recover?

\- I...I think I'll be okay...

After a few instant of hesitation, he stood up. He had the impression he was going to collapse again. His legs were shaking. He took some steps forward, stumbling a little. Léa came to his aid, wanting to help him to stand up. After he took some more steps, he realized, relieved, that he could walk just fine. After letting the others know he was going to be okay, they all headed to the cafeteria, although they did keep an eye on Bill, afraid he would lose consciousness again.  
Luckily, they arrived at the same times as the last student, so they were able to go have lunch without any trouble.

During lunch, Bill felt a little better. The more he was eating, the more he felt his strengths coming back. He wasn't feeling lost at all now, and his headache didn't hurt as much as before. Though, he was angry at himself. If he had been careful, he would have seen the bully coming. His former self would had obliterated, turned into dust, tortured, destroyed into oblivion this puny human who dared mocking and humiliating him. The only problem being: he wasn't his former self now. He was nothing more than a mere human. He felt really weak. He would have to be really careful if he wanted to avoid getting into troubles for the third time.  
He had to admit that he was thankful towards Léa...and the twins. If Mabel hadn't found him, what would have happened? He prefered not searching for an answer.

The moment they finished their meal, the bell rang, calling back all students. After making sure that Bill was perfectly fine now, the teenagers headed to their afternoon classes.

First was a chemistry class, teached by the same man than in physics class. Bill didn't like much this subject. The chemical "experience" seemed a bit too simple, and quite boring to him. The class was more about theory than actual experiments anyway. Mabel seemed to be bored as well. She admitted doing funnier mix-up at her house. On the contrary, Dipper was really focused during the hour, while Léa was having fun during the experiences. It was baffling. Bill did not understand what she liked about this subject. At least, she was making it more bearable.  
Finally, they had Drama class. Bill quickly got used to pretending being a fictive character to play in an entire story. It had always been his major in the past, to pretend being someone else to deceive an audience. So it didn't bother him at all. Mabel was often interrupted by the teacher, as she was always going off script. Dipper was doing well, so was Léa, although her natural timidity was causing her to stutter in front of her classmates. Mabel was often complimenting her, wanting to help her get over her shyness.  
When the last bell rang, Bill didn't believe it was over for the week. They were going to have two days on break. Like everyday, Léa and Bill walked together until they reached the bus. Only this time, Dipper and Mabel waited for them as well.

\- Okay, so don't forget to ask your parents and keep us informed for tonight! Dipper said.

\- Yeah ! Don't make us wait for too long ! Mabel added.

\- We...We'll try ! answered Léa, weakly smiling.

-Bill simply nodded. Once Léa was in her bus, he waited for John, like everyday. The man didn't make him wait for too long.

On their way back, Bill explained to John that he wanted to go to his "friends" house - still wasn't used to call the twins that way- , that it would be interesting, that he would spend the time there and…

\- Alright. John sighted as they entered the apartment.

\- Really?

\- What, "really"? Asked Harley from the kitchen.

\- Yvan wants to go to his friends house.

\- I don't see any problem with that. It'll even help him to be more…"human".

\- What about Tac…? Bill asked, staring at the cat who was sitting on the couch.

\- Don't worry about him, he can handle a night without you.

\- Great! Thanks Harley !

\- AHEM. John said.

\- Er… thanks you too, John.

Bill then rushed to his room, emptying his school bag so he could fill it with stuff to "survive" to Mabel and Dipper. He then stopped. Was he really happy about going to their house? Come to think of it, it was probably due to the fact that they had saved him twice this week. Maybe the twins weren't so bad after all.

After calling the parents of the twins, John took Bill to their home. A house, quite small, but they had a backyard. John leaved Bill alone.

On his watch, it was 18h30. He knocked on the door. Slowly, Mabel opened up.

\- Hey Yvan ! Come in ! We were waiting for you !

Bill gave her a weak smile, entering shyly. The house seemed to be well kept. They climbed up the stairs, reaching Dipper and Mabel's room. DIpper wasn't here yet, but Léa was sitting on a bed - a pink colored one, obviously Mabel's - and was quietly reading. The room was clearly divided in two parts: One with many decorations all over, untidied, while the other part was perfectly in order, with some books on a shelf. On what seemed to be Mabel's bed, a pig raised his head. Waddles, if Bill remembered correctly.

Dipper finally arrived in the room, followed by what Bill guessed to be the twins' mother. He froze upon seeing her:

It was the woman who had helped him get back home the day he visited the neighbourhood.


	12. Chapter 11: Pines

\- Alright, kids, I won't bother you any longer. I'm just here to remind you that dinner will be served at 19h30! said the twins' mother as she stepped out of the room.

Dipper then closed the door while Mabel sat next to Léa, closing the book she was currently reading.

\- Heya! Saaaaay, Léa! You did tell me you liked singing, right? Mabel asked.

\- Er, well… Yeah but ...why do you want to know? answered Léa, slightly embarrassed while she put back the book on Dipper's shelf.

\- 'Cuz we would loooooove to hear you sing ! Isn't that right, guys ?

Bill and Dipper looked at each other. They were a little embarassed by this sudden question, even though they didn't seem to mind at all.

\- See? They want you to sing so bad they can't even put words on it!

\- Um, I...O-okay, okay...if you insist...

For a moment, no sound was heard in the room. Then, Léa cleared her throat, before taking a long deep breath. Finally, she started to sing :

 _Hey there's a horseshoe on my door; big deal._

 _And say there's a black cat on the floor, big deal._

 _If these things make your day_  
 _Well if these things change your day_

 _Well do you know where you belong?_  
 _And is your star sign ever wrong?_

 _If these things change your day,_  
 _Well if these things make your day_  
 _Seen it all before, seen it all before..._  
 _In a time these things will change_

 _Hey there's a side of me unknown, big deal._  
 _And say, should this unknown force be shown, big deal._

 _If these thoughts make your day_  
 _Well if these thoughts change your day_  
 _Seen it all before, seen it all before_  
 _Given time these things will change_  
 _Seen it all before, seen it all before_  
 _Given time these things will change._

 _If these things change your day_  
 _Well if this song makes your day._  
 _Seen it all before, seen it all before_  
 _Given time these things will change_  
 _Seen it all before, seen it all before_  
 _Given time these things will change_

Everything went silent again. Léa was really embarrassed, avoiding eye contact. Mabel was the first one to talk:

\- That...was so beautiful!

\- You weren't kidding when you were saying that you could sing ! Dipper added.

\- Eh...T-Thanks...Hem...D-don't we have h-homeworks to d-do ? she answered, trying to hide her embarassement.

\- Y-Yeah ! stuttered Bill.

Everyone then took out their geometry tools from their bags, beginning to do their homeworks on the floor. Bill realised he had already done all the homework in class. So he looked at the others, and seeing that Léa was having troubles to get through her math, he went to her side, calmly explaining to her what she didn't understand. With his help, she was able to finish her exercise at the same time as the twins.

While they were putting back their stuff, Waddles walked to Bill, glaring him right in the eyes. Bill slowly stepped back, a little stressed. Had this pet recognised him? Mabel started to laugh:

\- Hey, look, he likes you !

\- Er, I wouldn't too sure 'bout that. Dipper said, pushing Waddles so he could leave Bill alone.

\- Where did you even got a pig ? Léa asked quietly, almost whispering.

\- Oh, yeah, THAT'S RIGHT ! I NEED TO SHOW YOU THIS ! Mabel suddendly shouted, running to her bed. She pulled out a pretty big scrap book, full of pictures and stickers everywhere.

"TA-DAAAAAAAA ! OUR SUMMER MEMORIES !"

She put the book on the ground, opened it, and began telling the story of their amazing summer. Sometimes, Dipper backed his sister up, by adding some extra info. The more they were closing to the Weirdmageddon week, the more uneasy Bill felt, remembering his own death…. But strangely enough...there were only photos of Stan and Ford 's face darkened. Bill felt a slight twinge of regret… As he knew what it was about: To destroy the demon, the Pine family had to make the ultimate sacrifice: erasing Stan's mind. In presence of the twins, Bill did feel a bit guilty about this.

\- Hey, are you two okay…? Léa asked.

The twins shared a look. Dipper was the one to calmly explain:

\- Well, our Grunkle Stanley suffered from amnesia during our last week in town.

\- Fortunately, we helped him get his memories back ! Mabel immediatly added.

Bill raised an eyebrow. Stanley had managed to restore his mind? Fascinating.

Downstairs, Mabel and Dipper's mother called everyone for dinner. The four teenagers came down stairs, quickly getting over this slightly awkward moment. Everyone gathered around the table with the twins parents. For dinner: pasta with ground beef. During dinner, the Pine family talked a lot, about pretty much anything. Léa and Bill mostly stayed quiet.

Once dinner was over, everyone was told to go take a shower. While one person was in the shower Mabel and Dipper had set an improvised mini golf in their room to wait.  
Mabel had put a pink nightdress on, Dipper blue shorts and a black shirt, Léa was wearing a red and grey top. As for Bill, he had decided to wear something else than yellow during the night: black shorts with a white t-shirt. The evening flowed by, and, for the first time of his human life, Bill had to admit: he was having fun.

When it was time to go to bed, they shared the room. Mabel was going to share her bed with Léa, while Dipper would share his with Bill. The blonded haired boy didn't complain about it, even if it made him slightly uneasy to sleep in the same room as his ex-enemies.  
Before they went to bed, Bill glanced Léa's back. He noticed there was a large mark slightly darker from the rest of her skin.

\- Hey, Léa…? What's that on your...back?

\- Oh? Er, that…; she said; quickly hiding the mark with her hair, I-It's nothing.

\- Don't you want to tell us? Mabel asked.

\- Well...One day, my dad's ranch burnt. I got caught up in the flames and...well, this is the burnt mark.

\- Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of…that Bill whispered.

\- Hey, it's nothing. It's in the past; Léa cut him ; Anyway, that was in the past, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Those words echoed through Bill's mind. First, because of how confident she sounded while saying this. But mostly because those words were true. She was right: What had happened in the past was in the past. No matter how badly one wanted to change it, the present couldn't change the past.

While Mabel, Dipper and Léa were falling asleep, Bill thought:

"She's right. I never was able to do anything against the past. All the things that I've done can't be erased... But them, can they forgive me knowing I can't do anything to change this past? Or will I be doomed to keep pretending not to be the person I once was?

While asking himself the question again and again, Bill fell deeply asleep.

The next morning, Mabel woke them up, announcing their program for the day :  
Cooking pancakes for breakfast, then playing board games, lunch, drawing stuff, puzzles games - Dipper wanted that so badly - and finally, as the day would end, Léa and Bill would have to go home. Mabel being upset with that last part, she decided not to waste anymore time:

"Let's make this the best day you'll ever have!"


	13. Chapter 12: Drown

The weekend passed by too quickly. Before Bill even realised it, it was already time to get back to school.  
After spending his day with the Pines, he came back home. From there, nothing really happened, as Bill didn't talk much with John and Harley, aside from when they all went to a store to get him all the school equipement he would need.  
His backpack was much heavier than last week, now that he was carrying everything he needed for class. He was often having a sore back. But as the week went on, his shoulders seemed to get used to all that weight.  
However it didn't make Bill feel any better. He still felt like he was trapped in a prison, with the impression of the school bag being like heavy chains adding more weight.  
At least, he wasn't the only one thinking that. His classmates were complaining too.

The more days passed, the more he learned new things about his "friend"  
Léa was getting less shy now. She was speaking more than before, opening to her friends. And it revealed one of her main trait: She was _way_ too curious about _everything_. The young girl was always trying to find out and understand about everything that intrigued her.  
It didn't take Bill much time before he realised he was one of those things.  
She constantly asked him several questions, trying to get to know him better. She was never insisting, but always ended up asking the question again in another way.  
Bill didn't like being "interrogated" at all. He was barely able to answer half of the questions, often making Léa uneasy from not getting any answers. He didn't wanted to make things uneasy between them, but what else could he do about it? Should he make up a human "backstory" so he could answer to her? He had to admit he was considering the idea. Maybe he would have to make up one, with Harley and John's help to make it...believable.  
This "issue" quickly slipped his mind when on Tuesday, the PE teacher announced:

Due to the public works that are done on our field where we usually have class, we're forced to switch some activities of the schedule. I will ask of you to make sure everyone in class acknowledge this: We will go to the Swimming Pool on Thursday.

In the room, many students beamed with joy, Mabel being the first one to shout happily about it Dipper too seemed eager at the idea. As for Léa, it looked like she had heard the most happiest news in her life. Although she was silent, she seemed really excited. It was the complete opposite reaction for Bill. Since he wasn't used to be submitted to gravity, he didn't know _anything_ about swimming. He just didn't care about this before. What was he going to do? He didn't tell the others about it. During the rest of the day, his fears didn't go unnoticed, especially when the group talked over it:

\- I...I can't wait to be Thursday ! What about you ? Léa said.

\- We sure are happy about it too. We'll be able to see who's the best swimmer, Mabel, huh?

\- Oh, don't you worry, Brobro! I can't wait to see you cry over your crushing defeat, and my sweet victory

\- Ha ! You wish, sister ! Be ready to eat thoses words.

Bill stayed completely silent.  
Léa looked at him, a little worried. She asked:

\- Yvan? Is something wrong ?

\- ...N-no ! Everything is fine !

\- ...Are you sure ?

\- ...It's just that…I'm not like you three...I don't think I'll like the Pool...

\- Hey, what's wrong with the pool? You don't have to worry about anything there! What could go wrong ?

What couldn't ? Bill asked himself.

\- ...But...If you don't like swimming, It's no big deal, you know. No one is going to force you to like it, Yvan.

As she said that, Léa gave him a friendly smile.

So the fateful day arrived. The students took a bus to go to the swimming pool. When they arrived, the teacher explained that each student was going to change in separate booths. Bill felt relieved hearing this. Harley and John had gave him a old-timey bathing suit in oder to cover the Zodiac Wheel inked on his back, since the last thing he needed was for anyone to notice it. Especially the Pines Twins.  
He joined his classmates, wearing this entirely black swimsuit. He realised everyone was now staring at him because of it.

The chlorine odour in this indoor pool was not a pleasant one.  
He was already feeling embarrassed by his "bathing suit" at least, no one could see the mark on his back.

The teacher told them that each student would pass so the teacher could put them in groups depending on their "physical level". What was the use of all that? Bill didn't knew right now. He didn't want to get in the water, only to make a fool of himself, since he _didn't knew_ how to swim.

Everyone had gathered near the big pool. The water seemed crystal clear, surprisingly. Bill felt he was observed. His bathing suit was clearly very different than anyone else. He avoided eye contact, only looking at Dipper, Mabel and Léa. If Dipper and Léa seemed very uneasy as well, Mabel didn't seemed to mind at all. On the contrary, she even praised him for originality.

As the teacher kept explaining the different activities the differents groups would do once formed, Bill quickly lost interest. He heard whispering coming from behind him. He felt like they were talking about him. He didn't want to be mocked, or bullied again, so he decided to face those person, and suddenly heard a petty laugh.

For a second, everything seemed to stop. As he turned around, he was suddenly falling backwards. A girl, the one who had just laughed, had pushed him. He didn't have time to react to this, each of his muscles paralysed. He immediately knew what was coming next: he was going to fall in the water.  
As his back hit the water's surface, he felt a sharp pain, forcing out air from his lungs.

Then, everything happened too fast: he began to panic, unable to reach the bottom of the pool with his feets. He tried in vain to walk on _something_ , to grab _anything_. But the more he tried, the more he was sinking.  
It over, he thought, before suddenly, hearing a shout, a call...Mabel? Dipper?

\- Mabel, we have to do something !

\- I'm on it !

Bill just had the time to see Mabel dive into the water, while her brother encouraged her. Bill was unable to do anything. She grabbed him from behind, and since she was a bit taller than him, she managed to bring him back to the edge of the pool, where the teacher helped to pull him out of the water.

Making everyone step back, the teacher gave Bill a worried look, as the blond haired boy coughed water, letting himself fall sideways. He stayed petrified on the ground, until Mabel and Dipper wrapped him up in a towel.  
He then realised that the twins just saved him. For the first time, he wasn't angry or annoyed at all. He was thankful. He even caught himself smiling to Mabel when she asked if he was okay, while the teacher was severely scolding the girl with the petty laugh.

During the rest of the afternoon, Léa insisted so his friend would see a doctor "We can never be too sure" she kept repeating, as many time as possibles. Bill kept answering he was doing just fine.

From this day forward, he didn't even care about mockeries. When anyone was trying to make fun of him, Mabel, Dipper and Léa would step in to take his defense. He wasn't alone anymore. But why? Was this what human cared so much about, what they called "friendship"? This unique feeling, to feel safe from any danger in the world?

Lying in his bed, Bill was thinking about it, while the night was rising up. One last question crossed his mind :

"Why don't I hate them anymore, if they still hate the one I was before…?"


	14. Chapter 13: Memories

It was one afternoon that the group decided to talk about their respective families. During that time, Bill had been really quiet about the subject. It seemed easy enough to avoid the topic...until Léa noticed it. Like she always did, she tried asking him several times, asking differently. Bill just leaved her, clenching his fist. Why couldn't she just leave him alone about this? He just didn't want to talk about that.  
Only this time, Léa didn't just got curious. She got _worried._ She _had_ to find out what was going on. He was alone, sitting in the hall when she sat beside him. For a moment, they didn't say anything. It was quiet. She broke the silence, asking with a very calm voice:

-…Yvan...About your family...

He winced. Why was she so persistant with that?

\- I won't force you to talk about them if you really don't want to, she immediately added waving her hands, But... I think...You really _need_ to.

His face lit up with surprise. How come he _needed_ to talk about this? As if she could read his thoughts, she explained her statement:

\- The fact that you don't want to talk about your family...is it because something happened to them? Because I know, from personal experience, that keeping something that makes you suffer to yourself is bad, Yvan. The more you'll struggle to keep it to yourself, the more underwhelming it will be. It's clearly not making you happy to...discuss about that... And I don't want to see you suffer...Y-You're my friend. She finally added, blushing slightly.

For a moment, there was only silence, as Bill allowed her words to sink in, looking through her eyes. A few minutes later, he finally gave in, sighing deeply. _There was no stopping her, afterall. What did he have to lose, as long as he was careful not to tell her too much?_ It took some time for him to even answer. But he finally decided to dive in those buried memories deep within his very soul. _Might as well get this over…_  
At least that what he thought at the moment, as he started talking:

\- Look I-...I never had a happy.. _"childhood"_...Where I came from… I was...different, to say the least. No one was able to understand me, and everyone was treating me as some sort of mistake that should have never existed.

Bill felt his heart ache as he kept talking :

\- My Parents...All they ever tried to do was making me "fit" into this dumb place. So I could be someone "normal"..."flat" like everyone else...I never undertsood why they hated what made me…unique. The more they kept telling me those words...The more I _hated_ them. It was suffocating… I started to hate everything…"flat", "normal", "restricted"...I-I hated everything and everyone around me...I hated m-my...f-family.

Bill paused, seized by his emotions. He didn't expect the answer to cause so much pain in his chest. His mind was filled with anger and hatred

\- I-I did a...lots of things...that i-i...regret...

His voice was cracking. He couldn't bear it. Emotions were overwhelming him. Memories were flashing before his eyes...Until he broke down, beginning to sob uncontrollably, gritting his teeth, unable to speak straight:

\- I-I never wanted that to happen ! I j-just...I j-just wanted to _live_! To s-show them that I'm not s-some…"mistake" I wanted e-everyone to stop...making m-me hate e-everything.

Léa didn't answer immediatly, She had been right: He had kept those thoughts to himself for too long. Even though she couldn't fully understand what he was going through, she could feel his pain. Seeing how he was unable to speak now, she wrapped her arms around him. Bill stopped as tears rand down his cheeks. He didn't know how to answer to that sudden gesture.

She wanted to confort him, holding him for several minutes before saying:

\- W-Well...There's nothing wrong w-with you in my opinion.

She paused letting go of him, before adding:

\- You know...growing up in the ranch... I wasn't, and still isn't easy. My mother is always very strict with me. She's judging every aspect of myself on a daily basis, even the way I stand. "Keep you back straight! Raise your head" She keeps repeating that. I'm even forced to wear corset. Looks are everything to her. She wants me to be the best in everything she makes me do. Even if I _don't_ want to. I have a very strict diet, since I have to stay lightweighted for every horse riding competitions she wants me to take part of. I really don't like them. I'd rather spend my time swimming. Only my mom refuse.

\- ...W-why don't you ask your dad?

\- He doesn't even try to argue with her anymore...She's the head of the house since the ranch...burnt down. He dropped everything so he could take care of the two remaining horse we have... But what I want to say, Yvan...When it comes to being force to be someone you're not?... I understand you.

Those words hit Bill. Even though he was feeling miserable, those words were conforting him. Even though he might have been on his own for too long, he realised that in this misery, he wasn't alone anymore. Was this what human called compassion? At the same time, he felt awful for not being able to tell her the truth. He felt like she was the only one who understood him at the time, but he just couldn't tell her the whole story. He had to hide the truth from this only person he currently "trusted". As he calmed down wiping down his tears, he began to think:

\- Y-You know….if you could come over sometimes...I mean, the weekend, at my house…well...Maybe we could go to the pool together?

Léa's eyes sparkled for a moment. That was an idea that she liked.

\- Like this, I'll be able to teach you how to swim ! She immediatly answered.

\- Er….yes ! O-of course ! Good idea !

Bill looked at his friend with a silly smile. When she was there, all the pain and all bad things seemed to disappear.  
After staying still for a moment to both calm down from their emotions, they decided to regroup with the twins.

\- Hey, lovebirds. You sure took your time. Mabel grinned.

Bill suddenly freezed upon hearing this. He had honestly never even consider the possibility. In fact, he had no idea what humans felt when they were in love. He looked at Léa. She was as embarrassed as he was by Mabel's words

\- That's not what you think ! Bill answered, offended.

\- Aaaaaaaw that's so cute! You're both blushing ! Mabel shouted

It was true. Bill and Léa had started to blush. A thought suddenly filled in his mind: What if it was true? All he knew about this human instinct, was that it was acting like one of the most powerful drug on both the body and the mind. How was he supposed to know that anyway? It's not like he could ask Léa.  
Even though the two were embarrassed, the group began to chat again, though Bill and Léa were now avoiding eye contact. Realising this, the twins shared a look, before taking both of them apart. Bill found himself alone with Mabel:

\- Sooooooo when are you gonna tell her ?!

\- E-excuse me?

\- Stop being like "I dunno watcha talking about". It's clear that you have a crush on her !

\- No I don't!...;He paused, uncertain. before silently adding; Do...Do I?

\- Well, duh! Just look the way you smile everytime she looks at you. Plus, everytime she sings, you're just standing there, hypnotized ! Well no more! Don't just stand there, pal, go talk to her!

He took a step back, slightly afraid by this overreacting girl.

\- I-I'm not even sure how I feel about this, Mabel.

\- How can you not be sure? She's a very likable and forgiving person! It's not like she would hate you for that!

Bill sighed before giving a patient smile to Mabel as he tried to reach a compromise to end this conversation:

\- Look, I'm...glad you want to help...I'll try to talk to her about it...this week-end.


	15. Chapter 14: Cipher, Part 1

The day was finally over. Bill was heading home, eager to soon be able to hang out with his cat Tac. The Afternoon heat would soon fade away, leaving the coolness of the evening. He would go on the balcony, drink orange juice and enjoy the end of the day...  
As he thought it over, He suddenly noticed a black van, parked in the avenue in front of the school. It'd been here for a few days straight now. Odd. He stopped, staring at it thoughtfully until he was suddenly brought back to reality when he heard a cry calling out for him.

"YVAN !"

He turned around to see Dipper running towards him, he looked completely panicked.

\- Dip-

\- Yvan ! Please...You...You got to help me ! It's M-Mabel ! The young boy said, panting.

\- Mabel? What's wr-

\- NO TIME TO EXPLAIN, PLEASE COME HELP ME !

Dipper forcefully dragged Bill throughout the streets, without any explanation, until they reached a small dark alley.

\- Mabel…? Dipper whispered; Mabel are you there

\- Dipper, what's going on?! Bill shouted, growing impatient.

\- Keep your voice down! Dipper said; Mabel twisted her ankle while running away from them.

\- From who?

\- I'll...I'll explain later. I told her to wait here, where is she? Mabel!?

The young boy looked around, calling for his sister. Now answer, until they finally heard her voice, as her figure stepped out of the shadows.

\- Di-Dipper…? H-help me...

Dipper immediately turned around, reaching out for her:

\- Mabel !

He suddendly stopped in his trail, when a man stepped out of the shadows, forcefully holding Mabel by the shoulder, a gun aimed at her head.  
As Bill witnessed this scene, anger begin to invade his mind.

\- Let my sister go! Dipper shouted.

\- Your sister will be unharmed if you kindly follow me.

\- Dipper..D-d-don't leave me... Mabel pleaded, her voice cracking.

\- I... I don't understand! What do you even want from us?!

\- You two are involved in the Stan Pines case. Since we can't find him anywhere, I'm sure you two knows where he hides.

Bill clenched his fist. He sould have known: The Governement's Agents had recovered their memories, just like Stanley. Of course they would send an agent to go after the two kids who had spend their summer under the roof of someone who had litteraly created a door leading to the apocalypse. The twins were easily seen as targets.

\- L-Let my sister go, p-please!

\- You will follow us without asking any question.

Mabel was crying, Dipper seemed terrified. Bill couldn't stay here doing nothing. Anger, rage. All those feelings he had held back for the past few weeks were suddendly bursting out.

\- You! He shouted, stepping up; Leave them alone!

\- Another? We don't take orders from teenagers, kid. The Agent scoffed.

\- Don't make me hurt you. Bill threatened, his voice suddendly dangerous, taking another step.

Neither Dipper or Mabel tried to stopped him, both paralysed by fear.

\- You? Hurt me? Now that's cute. The agent grinned.

\- You need them alive. I won't let you leave this place with them. I won't repeat it again: .Go. Either you leave them alone, or I _will_ make you.

Bill sounded far more confident that he had in a long time. It felt good, but at the same time, he felt like he was going to regret feeling so arrogant. But after having the Twins helping him over and over during the last few days, he only felt that it was natural he returned the favor. He _had_ to help them.

The other man begin to grew impatient. He didn't have time for this. Without any warning, he aimed his gun directly at the blond-haired boy.

\- Too late for that, kid.

The Agent fired. The Twins screamed in terror, calling out for their friend.

Everything went black.


	16. Chapter 15: Cipher, Part 2

Everything went down too quickly. First, the gun shot, muffled by the gun's silencer. Mabel, screaming in fear. Dipper, calling out his friend, panicking. Bill had closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. He kept them closed for a few seconds, before realising nothing was happening. No noise, no pain, no nothing. He opened his eyes, realising he was no longer in the alley. But in the void. A perfect, calm, white void.

A deep voice resonated through his mind, one he knew very well, belonging to his opposite, the most powerful being he once had hated, the one who had gave him another chance.  
The Axolotl:

" **Bill Cipher. Save them.** "

Something suddenly went through him. He could felt it. Except it wasn't the bullet. It was even more dangerous. Something even more powerful. Something...very familiar.  
His Powers.  
Pure energy rushed through his veins, his spine, his whole body. He knew this energy too well, but at the same time, it was a felt _new_. Like ember starting a new fire from the ashes. He never had felt so embed with his powers before.  
Bill realised that he was being sent back to reality. With a grin, he firmly answered to the Axolotl:

"I will."

Bill opened his eyes, raising a hand towards the man who just had fired, as he shouted:

" **STOP** "

The world seemed to suddenly stop. The Bullet had stopped in mid-air, a few millimeters from hitting Bill. No more noise, no more sound. Everything seemed frozen. All the colors had disappeared, leaving the Twins, the Agents and Bill the only things capable of moving in this now greyish landscape, where time ceased to exist.  
Mabel's eyes widened as she saw Bill's. Instead of the brown eyes of the friend she had getting used to were two hellish glowing yellow eyes, with two thins pupil, similar to a cat. She gasped in fear. She knew thoses eyes too well. The Agent seemed frightened too, not understanding what was happening at all. Dipper first took a few step back, shocked by what just happened. As he saw his friend's eyes, it all clicked in his head: there was only one being he knew capable of making this possible:

\- It...It can't be...Bill..! He said, growing scared by the realisation. He clenched his fist, as he angrily shouted: How can you be alive!? What have you done to our friend?!

He was ready to fight the demon. This was far more dangerous than the agent. But this wasn't what Bill wanted at all. He simply turned to the young boy and answered, catching him by suprise:

\- Calm down, Dipper. I'm won't hurt you. I will explain everything in time...But first...

He turned his glare to the Agent, who immediately let go of Mabel's shoulder, recoiling in fear. _Who is that kid? What is that kid?!_ He thought fearfully.

As if he could read his mind, Bill grinned menacingly, before being raised from the ground by an invisible force, starting to levitate. It had been a while since he had used his powers, but it was quickly coming back to him. He felt free. He closed in, putting a small distance between the twins and the agent as he raised his hand forward.  
The man immediately raised his hands to his throat, dropping his weapon which freezed in mid air, as if he was trying to get rid of an invisible rope strangling him, a strange force was preventing him from breathing.

\- I warned you to leave them alone; Bill coldly said.

He wasn't done, lifting the man from the ground throwing him against the nearest wall. The man grunted in pain. Bill leaned closer to him as he told him:

\- Should have quitted while you still could, _kid._

The Agent stared at him, fear locked in his eyes. Good. He had his attention now. He ordered, menacingly glaring at this man who just put in danger his life, and threatened his friends.

\- You will leave the Pines family **alone**.

The demonic child threw him against another wall, hard enough to knock the man out, realising the grasp he had on his throat. His raw energy was slowly disappearing. He felt his powers fading away. He would go tired pretty quickly after this, so he landed safely on the ground. As he did, everything went back to normal, as if nothing had happened. All the colors returned, and his eyes turned back to normal too.  
The bullet which had been stuck in mid-air, passed through the street to finally hit a wall, without anyone noticing.  
He felt exhausted. He didn't realise using old his powers would require more energy than before. But as the same time, he felt a little relieved. Now, there was only one more problem he had to face…

He turned to the Twins, waiting for their reaction. Dipper had rushed to Mabel's aid, helping her stand up. When their eyes met Bill's worried look, they both took a step back in awe. Not that Bill could really blame them. He had been their worst enemy. But he just wish they would listen to him. He didn't move, afraid they would run away, waiting for them to say something, _anything_ to break this awkward silence. Dipper stepped in front of this sister protectively, as he finally asked, filled with confusion:

\- Who...are you…?

\- I...I can explain, Dipper, I-

He was relieved the twins didn't run away. Dipper stopped him before he had the chance to explain anything:

\- ...Yvan...never existed, did he?

To be honest, Bill didn't know exactly what to answer them. He _had_ been Yvan for some time, now. He felt a different person. But at the same time...was that him? Or only the person he was trying to be?  
With a sigh, he finally answered:

\- No. Not really…

\- Just...How ? And why?


	17. Final Chapter: The Truth

\- Sooooo, you're not Yvan ?

\- I _am_ Yvan.

\- But you have the same powers as Bill. Dipper insisted.

\- What's hard to get ? I'm both Bill Cipher AND Yvan Arradion ! He repeated, getting slightly annoyed.

One hour had passed since the Twins found out about their 'friend''s true identity. After promising to tell them everything, Bill had led them to his house, so he could reveal the truth in a safe place. Explaining the situation to John and Harley was not easy too. But suprisingly, they showed to be rather understanding, and after agreeing to leave them some space, leaving the room for the twins and dream demon.  
Sitting on the couch, Bill avoided eye contact, looking nervously at his hands. He already knew there wouldn't be any welcoming ones for him. Dipper was standing still, arms crossed, trying to make sense of all of this, and giving a hard glances to the demon who had almost killed them last summer.  
A hand fell on the blond haired boy's shoulder. Mabel, uneasy with the whole situation, decided to speak:

\- Could you, maybe, tell us from the start? Maybe we'll understand better this way.

Bill could feel how hard she was trying to sound friendly. And he felt bad. Maybe lying to them was for the best after all...After letting out a sigh,

\- ...Fine…

He closed his eyes, desperately hoping, deep inside, that the twins would understand him.  
"...I guess it all started when you erased Stanley's memory. A clever death trap you pulled there. No escape for me. A dead end.

He decided to skip the details. The memory of the flames getting closer and closer still made him shiver. Besides, it only made the twins angrier, to be reminded that their great uncle nearly lost his mind forever by that. So he decided to carry on:

" It may sounds surprising to you, but I _am_ afraid of death. And I think you're both smart enough to know that my life isn't exactly filled with…"colorful" memories. I committed many...atrocities, during my...previous life."

As he kept talking, Bill realised how much he was starting to change. Back then, everything he destroyed kepts making him thrilled. Making chaos was what he enjoyed most. But now? Looking back at everything he had done, from a human point of view...it was really weird, to say the least. He felt a little guilt inside of him, but at the same time, no, since this "new life" of his, was supposed to be a new beginning.

"But, there is one entity, a creature above any other, who was capable of saving me. To grant me forgiveness for my past actions...Through redemption. And as I died, I called for its name. And it saved my soul. restored me. Offered me an only chance to live again, by redeeming my soul.  
And I became a mortal. A human, without any of my powers. living among humanity, bended to your "rules". I started to become Yvan Arradion."

\- But you still have memories of your past life. Dipper noted.

He nodded.

\- And...What about your parents next room?

Hearing this, Bill felt a twinge of pain.

\- They not my parents. They're guardians. Created to make sure I won't cause any more trouble, and guiding me through my redemption.

\- If you were granted a new life, shouldn't you be baby or something? Mabel asked.

\- ...It's no coincidence I ended up in your class, Mabel. They wanted me to meet you once more, in another time, another form. Everything seemed new to me, until I first saw you two at school. I was terrified, not even being able to look at you in the eye.

\- Wait, you mean you're actually _scared_ of us?

\- Was. Until you...saved me. Helped me through. I began to doubt myself, wondering if I could actually...move on. I guess that's why I still have my past memories. So I can be reminded why I'm here.

\- I even started to hope you'd be able to...accept...the new me? So...when I saw this gouvernement guy, I just wanted... _needed_ to protect you...as a friend would do. That's when my powers came back for a short time.

As he stopped talking, everything went silent for a while. Once he had processed all of the information, Dipper asked:

And now, what's going to happen ?

\- Whaddya mean?

\- Well...You don't want to kill us anymore, and you saved us both earlier...And I guess you suffered a lot over the weeks so...We _could_ say we're even.

\- You mean...you'd be ready to... forgive me…?

Dipper and Mabel shared a look, thinking about their answer. After another awkward silence, Mabel put her hand on Bill's shoulder, while Dipper answered:

\- ...It's not that simple, you know. What you did during summer...tormenting us, toying with us, almost killing us…

\- But...; Mabel continued; You just saved us. Both.

\- And you really sound like you genuinely want to redeem yourself. So…

\- We can try, to accept the new you. To accept Yvan.

\- R-Really? You forgive me?

\- As long as you don't go back to being the murderous psycho demon.

\- We'll need time to fully accept it. You know why.

\- Of course!

Bill cracked a smile. Even though he just heard it, he couldn't believe it. The twins were forgiving him.  
As he got up, he suddenly felt a presence near him, as a voice spoke:

 _ **Bill Cipher**_

Startled, Bill almost screamed in fear, but nothing came out. In the blink of an eye, everything around him had disappeared.

"Mabel? Dipper?" He called out instinctively

He wasn't in the living room anymore. He was floating in mid-air, in a whole new environnement. A pinkish sky rose above him, covered in clouds, and luminous spheres. In one particularly big cloud, a pale pinkish tad-pod like creature with limbs and long gills was staring at him, silently, with his two black eyes.

\- Axolotl… Bill whispered, silently:

 _ **You have proven me that even a corrupted soul like yours can be redeemed, as you just earn the respect and friendship of two of your former enemies, making sure history wouldn't repeat.**_  
 _ **Now, you can fully fulfill your redemption, and be reborn as a new entity. Another time, another form.**_

" _A test. This was all just a test"_ Bill realised. The Axolotl was about to give him what he had wanted. An escape from all his memories, from all that kept him up at night. No more fears, no more regrets. He start anew again, without ever knowing everything he had done before.  
But…

\- W-Wait! He suddenly shouted.

Axolotl got closer, floating just above the blond haired boy, not saying a single word, waiting for Bill to explain his concerns.

\- I...I don't want to be reborn...I… I want to stay Yvan Arradion. If I forget everything, how can you be sure, no matter the form, that I won't cause any more trouble? I learned to be human.I made friends with enemies. But I didn't even get to be forgiven by others enemies. And I certainly don't want to learn how this "new form" will work.

He stopped talking, feeling he was being a little confusing. But to his surprise, the beast seemed to smiled, pleased by his answer.

 _ **How surprising. Maybe you really have changed after all. You wish to continue your redemption through Yvan Arradion? Live among humanity, and your friends? So be it, Bill Cipher.**_

And with that, Bill felt himself being brought back to reality.

\- "Hey, you're still with us?" He heard Dipper's voice calling.

Realising he had been staring into space for a few instants, Bill blinked a few times, answering:

\- Y-Yeah, I'm still here. Hey, why don't I call Léa and we can talk this out tonight?

Dipper and Mabel shared looks, she shrugged and the young boy was the one to answer:

\- As long as your guardians are here, Bill, I don't see why not?

With a smile, he simply answered:

\- Please. Call me Yvan. I think I have lots of things to tell you.

 **END**


	18. Ending Note:

A/N: This story was written by 3 French People:

NowayaMacNamara, who helped with the writting part, has amazing writing skills.

DragonnsBoss, amazing artist who helped with writing this fanfiction and the translation into english

Thanks you girls so much for pushing me into writing down this fanfiction.

Thanks to Liu who draw for us this amazing cover.

Thanks all of you for reading, and until next story ;)


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